


Star Trek - Inquisition

by PRFury



Category: Star Trek
Genre: 25th Century Star Trek, GFY, Gen, Inquisition, Puerto Rican Captains are the best kind of Captains, Star Trek - Freeform, They never expect us, asking for a friend, does it count as fan fiction if it's all OCs?, what even are tags?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:33:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PRFury/pseuds/PRFury
Summary: Set the century after Star Trek: Nemesis, we find a new kind of crew with a new kind of ship.  Same galaxy, not sure if it's the same Starfleet.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	1. Commander Tora

**Author's Note:**

> I have not seen Star Trek: Discovery yet, this may or may not end up contradictory to what occurs in that show ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Away team mission credit to ImpulseWriter (from Tumblr) for the mission going the way it does “well I’d immediately be wary of local flora and fauna, but also want to go “Let’s see if it’s dangerous by inviting the fauna over” and probably end up getting my leg or arm bit off or something lmao”

Personal Log

Stardate 90864.3

_I hate today. Not as much as I used to, but I still hate it. Momma says I shouldn’t continue to feel like this, not after 5 years, but I can’t help it. It’s not like I want to remember. Believe me, I wish I could forget._

_But I still remember. I remember my love’s eyes, their smile, their warmth. I remember my excitement as our Pastor proclaimed “Kiss your wife!” and being dipped and raising my hand in victory._

_I remember the screams from our guests as phaser fire sliced through the air, a single precise shot standing out the most. One shot. One target. And I’m reminded today of all days, I’m still a widow._

_I really hate today._

Personal Log

Stardate 90864.3

 _I’ve just received my latest assignment from Starfleet, some tiny little ship called the_ Inquisition _. Who the heck would consider naming a ship the Inquisition? Seriously! It’s the 25 th century for crying out loud, the Empire doesn’t even include Inquisitions in the history classes. I had to dig through the oldest part of Starfleet’s library to figure out what the heck it meant, Terrans are something else I will grant them that. I see why Vulcans are amused by them so often. And to top it off, I’m to serve under some Captain… Kercado? Not Moss, Kercado. Just my luck._

 _Only a stepping stone on my path to getting into Captain Moss’ crew. Another stepping stone. And then another. I’m tired of this_ Hnaev.

Captain’s Log

Stardate 90865.07

_The new First Officer was 2 minutes late reporting for duty, due to atmospheric interference. She proceeded to apologize for at least 5 minutes before I had the chance to let her know 2 minutes wasn’t going to kill us and unless she controlled the weather she shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. Commander Tora is not happy with her new assignment that much is clear. When I confronted her about her discomfort, she admitted her goals of serving under Captain Moss and didn’t understand why she was assigned to our ship._

_To be honest, I’m not sure what the Admiral is planning either. My first impression of my new First Officer is that I don’t think she’ll be able to keep up with us. But. I made a promise to my Captain before I took command to always give a new member of the crew a shot and I intend to keep that promise._

_I have advised Commander Tora that I know Captain Moss quite well, but that the Captain has certain expectations, and asked does she think she can live up to those expectations. Like a true Romulan, she is proud of her abilities and said she would. An admirable trait, let’s hope it doesn’t ruin the kid._

*Sounds of clicking chinaware, a long sigh*

_I’ll give her 6 months under my command. If she can last 6 months, I’ll let her meet Captain Moss._

\---

“Captain on the bridge!” the science officer chirped as the turbolift opened to the captain and first officer, the second stop after letting Commander Tora drop off the luggage she carried during transport. An uneventful day for the Bridge Crew of the _Inquisistion_ , the helm was taking the _Challenger_ -class ship on a semi-lazy arc close to a class-Y moon for the Science department to take samples for analysis. The Captain always had fingers crossed for uneventful days when new crew reported for duty, didn’t always happen but still. So far, the most exciting news Science had to offer was for a brief moment the moon showed an atmospheric eddy in ‘an unusual, delicate pattern, however it lasted for 3.26 seconds before dissipating again’.

As the captain introduced the new First Officer to the Bridge Crew, Commander Tora couldn’t help but get the feeling like she was being watched like prey. Yet when she turned to each person in turn, there wasn’t any signs on their faces of hostilities. Maybe the standard looks one gets when they’re the new person on their first day, but not outward malice.

“It’s an honor to be here, I can tell you’re a fine crew and I look forward to-“ Tora was cut off from her greetings by the Science Officer, Sakkir.

“Please, do not feel obligated to continue with a Standard greeting said by many who have served onboard the _Inquisition_. To be honest, Sirs, we’ve grown weary of a lackluster opening, devoid of any… emotion.”

Tora bristled a little at not only the interruption but the realization that she would have to work with a Vulcan of all people. Despite what history told her about them, she still didn’t trust or like them.

“Sakkir does have a point, Commander Tora. To get ahead with Starfleet, you’re gonna want to work on your first impressions. But then again, Sakkir gave such a long welcome speech his first day a few people fell asleep.” Captain Kercado grinned at her Science officer, a fond memory between the two of them then. Tora wondered how long Kercado had put up with the Vulcan to warrant this response, then remembered she probably would not be around long enough to care.

She was directed to her position at Tactical and familiarized herself with the panel as the ship completed its arc and changed course to head back for Earth.

\---

Stardate 90894.115

“Captain, I’m picking up a large space storm just off the port bow” Lt. Etho Xume reported as she turned in her seat to face the captain. Her cohort, Lt. Imal Sadam, nodded his agreement but only barely, his attention fixated on the readouts before him, doing his best to keep the ship within a safe distance from the edge of the storm until they could figure out how safe it was.

Kercado dipped her head once, indicating her acknowledgement, and glanced at Science and Tactical to ascertain any possible threats or opportunities. Tora didn’t catch any ships or possible weapons within the storm, an assessment which put her Science counterpart at ease. Especially since he couldn’t pick up anything on sensors from the distance they were at and requested they be allowed to move closer to the storm, even inside if possible. Sadam and Xume were already running the numbers and checking the strain to the ship to see how close they could get. They confirmed their readouts indicate it safe to take the ship in to see what could be inside. Kercado didn’t need any more convincing.

“Alright helm, shields up! Take us in one quarter impulse, we don’t know what may be lurking in this storm. Anyone’s thumbs pricking yet?” Her Operations officer, Nathan Smith, groaned at her archaic reference. Commander Tora, a week and a half into her new post and already growing more familiar with her new crewmates including (she couldn’t believe it herself) the Vulcan next to her, glanced around to see if anyone else was as confused as she was. She’d learned quickly that this ship’s crew tended to be throw older references around when working, many of them centuries old. Perhaps not at all what she expected.

“Relax, Commander. It’s not a reference any of us have used in a long time. It’s a quote from a play almost a thousand years old now, written by one William Shakespeare who many on Earth still considered a legendary playwright to this day. Rumor has it to speak the name of the play is bad luck, so it shan’t be uttered aloud until we’re away from this place before you ask which play. The Captain’s referring to a line from its fourth act”. Smith was a little proud he’d remembered as much as he did while he filled the commander in on what the captain was indicating.

Tora and Sakkir glanced at each other, a silent communication passed between them. She was loathe to admit it, but the Vulcans on board weren’t so bad, she could even begin to see why the other Romulans had developed friendships with them. However, they didn’t need telepathy to both realize that maybe their captain was a little odd sometimes. Kercado grinned at her First and Second Officers.

“Captain, the storm’s letting up, we’ve possibly just gone through a space hurricane. Scanners indicate a small Class M planet ahead, although it appears to be slowly breaking up by the storm around. No signs of life aside from flora and fauna so far.”

“Helm is correct, I estimate at least 4 hours before the planet is broken up to an unsafe point for anyone.” 

“Thank you helm and science. Away team 3, report to Transporter Room 2! You’ve only got a couple hours so you better make it count. Commander Tora, you will join the team as well.” Tora nodded in acknowledgement and made her way to the armory for a phaser rifle before heading to the transport room in question.

As the doors hissed open, she noticed that the rest of the Away team were spot checking their gear and supplies while taking bets as to what they’d encounter. The conversation paused for a moment as they assessed the newest member of their team before continuing with their guesses, the most being for a semi-sentient plant.

“For the last time, Lexi, plants that sing are from _musicals that are made up!_ ”

“You know what, Imp?! It’s only made up until _proven true!”_ The Human female shouted as she stomped her way onto the transport pad, saluting briefly to the Commander who remained as confused about the conversation she missed as ever.

Irving Hatt, the one referred to as “Imp”, merely rolled their eyes as the rest of the team stepped onto the pad as well. Tora, positioned at the front, motioned for the transporter technician to beam them down to the surface.

They were on the surface not even two hours before the Bridge heard their frantic cries for an emergency beam up directly to Sick Bay. Concerned - this was not normal for her Planetary Recon team - Kercado also made her way to Sick Bay to see what happened to her crew. The doors hissed open, barely clearing for her as she ran into the area… only to see a combination of the Nurses and Security wrestling with a large Vine still holding Tora by the ankle. Imp and Lexi trying their hardest to keep as far out of everyone’s way so as not to get under foot or vine. The ship’s botanist, Syra, was diving into the fray, frantically trying to tell the struggling crew not to hurt the vine and if everyone would just stop moving, she could just –

“EVERYONE FREEZE!” Both Captain and Commander barked together, impressive for the latter who was still upside down and turning very green now from all the blood rushing to her head. To everyone’s credit and training, they obeyed the orders and barely a muscle moved. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, it felt like hours to Tora even though her mind was trying to remind her it’d been but a few moments.

After 5 minutes of everyone barely moving, waiting to see what the plant they brought back with them unintentionally would do if it would do anything, it finally relaxed enough to let go of its prey who fell to the floor with a rather undignified _whump_ sound. The Nurses immediately pulled her to safety in another room as Syra, more familiar with the plant now, stepped into the space created and rubbed a blue finger along a length of the surface. The vine shuddered at the touch before slumping into a semi-knotted mess.

“Syra to Transporter Room 3, please lock onto the vine readings in Sick Bay and beam them down to our Landing Site.”

Once the Sick Bay was free of unwelcome plants and the transporter room confirmed transport complete, the rest of the team joined the captain in the other room with the commander who was being tested by a single nurse now and the Doctor on duty. Imp was trying their hardest to not laugh.

“Commander, didn’t your guardians ever warn you to not touch strange plants? Even I know that! You’re lucky it didn’t bite your leg off or worse.”

Tora merely glared at the Zoologist as Doctor Loganach checked her tricorder readings and requested all necessary sample tests to make sure the Romulan would not be experiencing side effects anytime soon. The away team started teasing the trapped officer, laughing at her being stuck in Sick Bay for a good 30 minutes, and started a new round of bets on whether she’d make it, became violently ill, or end up dead. The captain glared at them as she snapped hard at their lack of décor. Really. No one would be foolish enough to die not even a month into their time with them! Still, she was relieved everyone made it back. Satisfied she wouldn’t have to write an immediate letter of condolence for anyone, the captain made her way back to the Bridge.

Precisely 30 minutes later, the computer beeped its results completed and the commander was cleared to return to duty with no restrictions – “Except to not touch the plants!” came from both Imp and Syra as they left to return to their own posts – and to follow-up with Sick Bay the following morning before duty. On her way back to the Bridge, Tora felt like she bumped into every member of the crew who were either sad she was still alive or amused she had what they were considering a good first away mission.

On the bridge, however, was a different atmosphere as she left the turbolift. Everyone was on edge, from what she couldn’t determine as the screen showed nothing before them but the storm, nothing extraordinary. Not until she got to her station and she noticed the sensor readings. Where there should have been the planet, the screen now showed _only_ the storm. And what was worse was the storm was collapsing with them still inside, and it looked like in the few hours they were inside it had acquired no small amount of debris from tearing up the now gone planet and ionic charge.

Both helmsmen were frantically trying to maneuver the ship to a possible opening, guided by both Science and Tactical who kept reporting different coordinates for weak points. Everyone worked together to get the ship to safety, their panic rising incrementally until it was almost tangible. They paused in their efforts a moment when the turbolift opened again but it only brought the chief Engineer, Kevin Dawson, to interface his department to the bridge and react quicker to whatever was needed of his team for the ship.

Captain Kercado sat in her chair, eyes closed. She listened to the crew around her as they worked together, the same way they’d done for years. She listened to the ship under her feet, the _Inquisition_ had yet to fail her in the time she’d captained the old girl. And she listened to the sounds coming from outside, piped in but filtered through the ship’s comm.

“Everyone, wait! Full stop, raise shields. Turn off the audio filter, let it all come in as it does. We’re missing something out here.” Her eyes stayed closed; she knew her crew would follow orders. If they wanted to get out of this alive.

Sure enough, there was a noticeable change in the sounds, a consistent pattern. The captain motioned to Science to figure out the pattern, to helm to scan the area in front of them for that opening but this time in conjunction with the results from Science. Using the comm pad on her chair, she alerted Tactical, Security and Engineering to what she needed. Tactical and Security needed to coordinate the phaser fire to clear their path out. Engineering, they were going to need to boost shields as much as possible while also increasing as much power to the engines to get them out as fast as Helm deemed possible.

Helm relayed the scans to Engineering, they could make it with a well-timed Warp 1 burst, how long depended on Science’s rhythms.

Science found the rhythm, a 4 second break every 74 seconds.

Engineering had the shields up to peak efficiency, just needed the go ahead and helm would get their burst for Warp.

Everyone held their breathes as they waited for the Captain to give the order.

“All hands, this is the Captain. Brace yourselves in 5…. 4…. 3…. 2….1…. ENGAGE!”

They cleared the storm with only a few hull plates sheared off the side due to errant debris, impossible to predict. Better a few hull plates than having to report to Starfleet they’d all died. Or worse.

“I’m curious Captain, what could honestly be worse than us all dying?” Smith asked. She just looked at him seriously as she replied that if only a few survived then their careers could have taken a nosedive.

Point taken. A buoy was left to warn others of the now dangerous storm. Results from both the planetary reconnaissance and the spatial analysis were downloaded for further review once they were in safe territory again.

As they headed for the nearest starbase, a mere four hours away at warp 1 any faster would risk further damage to the ship Engineering reported, the bridge crew began a lighthearted discussion of the latest installment of the MCU, now much more interesting since the technology caught up with the vision. If Tora didn’t know any better, she would think they were on a normal space exploration vessel and didn’t just have an exciting day and a half.


	2. New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew rings in the new year celebrating a small accomplishment. And during a routine mission, secrets begin to emerge, from how many sides remains to be seen.

_First Officer’s Log_

_Stardate 90998.63_

_I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is definitely something going on with the crew of this ship. In the past 6 weeks, I’ve walked in on groups of crewmen discussing various subjects not relating to their assigned duties. When I address my concerns with the Captain, she advises me to continue with my own work and she will take care of it. My understanding is, as First Officer, crew discipline is my responsibility. I reminded the Captain of this and she told me to “_ DROP IT COMMANDER. _” Not quite in a yell but not a whisper either._

_I will be sure to notify the Admiral of this when we are next in the Sol System._

_Personal Log_

_Stardate 90998.65_

_The kid is getting nosey. Again. I’ve reminded the crew to keep to their duties when_ on duty _and to mind what they say. We don’t know where her loyalties lie, 5 more months to figure this out. That being said, it’s Earth’s New Year’s Eve today. Another year without a major incident, maybe I’ll treat myself to a glass of Rosé from my stash. Or even a bit of rum? Maybe a shot of tequila…. No wait, I’ve got it! Momma sent me a bottle of Coquito this past Christmas, man I haven’t that it years. First year without a death, I’ll drink to that!_

 _*_ small giggle before the recording ends*

Stardate 90999.998

The Captain and First Officer made their way to Engineering, a slight skip in the Captain’s step. Considering it was close to midnight on the ship’s internal clock, this proceeded to amuse Tora as she looked down at her.

“Big moment happening in Engineering Tora. Don’t really know how to explain exactly what we’re celebrating. Just know, it’s a tradition on board this ship. Not required, but highly encouraged.”

The final turbolift opened to a packed Engineering, every engineer and technician on board had gathered. Close to the ship’s Warp Drive stood Kevin Dawson, Chief Engineer, and his Second, a Ferengi named Ugela. Tora was still shocked that not only was there a Ferengi in Engineering (Engineering actually has _two_ the captain reminded her) but that it was a _Female_ Ferengi of all things. She never imagined a female Ferengi living her own life, in a non-profitable position, and not missing her own kind. Then again, her file indicated she was a direct descendant of the most radical Grand Nagus in history, as well as the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Ugela was destined to stand out no matter what she chose. Starfleet was just glad she chose to forge her path with them. She was already proving to be every bit like her predecessor, Nog.

Dawson raised his hands to quiet down the conversations all around Engineering, a grin on his face. Within a few seconds, the only sound to be heard was the hum of the ship’s engines, a gentle purr after being given a good once over earlier in the day.

“Gentlebeings of Engineering, today’s a big day for many reasons. Not only have we made it a full year without the ship at risk of core overload at any point”—this earned a large cheer from everyone, many who had had their own brush with death from the warp core in the past— “but, our very own Ugela has gotten the hang of Fire Starting! That, coupled with her Flint Napping and Basic Tracking skills has allowed her to earn her first Jack of All Trades!”

The entire crew erupted into cheers as her earlobes turned a deep orange. But she grinned proudly at her accomplishment. Tora was, yet again, confused at this crew’s reactions. Fire starting wasn’t crucial to her duties in Engineering, in fact she couldn’t figure out a situation when such a skill would be needed by anyone on a starship.

Captain Kercado stepped forward to shake the Lieutenant’s hand and offer her congratulations. Ugela thanked her for the suggestion on tracking, it was her first skill learned and got her interested in the other two. She was thinking of learning an old _Hew-mon_ craft – “Kah-nit-teeng? Captain, the one with the two oversized needles and the yarn?”- and possible other such crafts from other worlds within the Federation. Kercado agreed they were good skills to learn, she was skilled in sewing both hand stitching and using a sewing machine herself.

Tora was certain her Captain was insane, who even needed to know how to sew in this century? Especially when they could have a replicator create anything for them. Something she would need to ask the Admiral about when next she could out of curiosity.

The two of them stayed another half hour, ringing in the New Year for Earth with the celebrating crew, before quietly leaving for a few hours sleep before their shifts began and a new year for everyone. On the way to the first turbolift out of the area, the captain asked the commander how she was getting on. Tora gave a noncommittal grunt as she summoned the turbolift, not wishing to reveal that she was both enjoying the crew or that she experienced discomfort at their oddness. For a moment the silence dragged on as they waited.

“I think you should try for a Jack of all Trades, Commander. Maybe take up map reading?”

“Captain, what even is a Jack of all Trades? I’ve never heard of such a recognition in Starfleet!”

The captain looked up at her for a moment when they got into the turbolift, face passive as she thought of the best way to answer. It wasn’t a hard answer, but the commander was observant, which may not always be for the best.

“Tora, have you ever heard of the phrase ‘Jack of all trades’?”

“No captain, I’m not familiar with the phrase, is it Terran in origin?”

“It is. The whole phrase is ‘A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.’ On board the _Inquisition_ , I won’t allow anyone to be wholly dependent on the ship or its equipment. If we’re ever stranded somewhere, or floating dead in space, or should something like communications be knocked out, I’m not having the crew be completely helpless. Helm is able to calculate flight plans using a pen and paper. Engineering has a few people that can seal a breach in the hull using a variety of welding tools, or even craft their own. Cartography’s got someone that is working on becoming a Medic should Medical and Sickbay be cut off from them. The point is, almost everyone here has other skills that are valuable is near unlikely situations. Ugela’s success today means we’ve got another member of the crew that can guide us if we’re stranded on a planet.”

Tora thought on this as they exited the turbolift to head for the next one down the hall. It never occurred to the Romulan Empire to have other skills outside of one’s duties, not in the centuries they’d interacted with Humans. After they’d made peace starting with the crew of the _Enterprise-E_ almost a century ago, they didn’t strive to further their new relationship with the Humans the same way their Vulcan counterparts did. Then again, a month into being with this crew, maybe it was time to change how things were done.

They walked in thoughtful silence, Tora thinking about what the captain suggested and Kercado thinking about what waited for her in her quarters. They got to Tora’s quarters first, the captain quietly wishing her a happy new year and a good night, Tora returning the well wishes.

When the captain got to her own quarters, she finally allowed herself to breathe deeply, letting the weight of the past year lift from her shoulders. She poured herself a small glass of her drink and looked out her porthole at the blurred stars.

“Here’s to another year, may it be peaceful. For once.”

Stardate 91000.684

6 hours into the new year found the _Inquisition_ on a Starfleet mandated cartography mission to update their star charts, specifically the Maxia Sector. Why that sector specifically, only Starfleet would say. And on the subject all that was said was that the star charts were over two decades old and they needed to be updated to prevent any of their ships from accidentally warping through an asteroid or worse.

Kercado had glanced over the charts in question for a quick second and agreed, they were due for an update and had Helm set course for the Maxia Sector. While en route, Olivier Granet, head of Cartography, came to the Bridge to go over what areas the captain felt needed to be updated based on what Starfleet had ordered. This seemed odd to Tora, why would only parts of the map need to be updated and not the entire thing? She kept her questions to herself however, waiting to see what the captain would say.

She merely advised Granet to do a full update and record any differences, no matter how small so they could be recorded to the Admiral as needed. They continued talking, their voices lowered to a murmur so low even Tora couldn’t hear as they continued to go over the current map, pointing to different sections and marking out other landmarks to keep track of. After a moment however, both officers made their way to the Captain’s ready room, leaving Tora in command of the bridge. Helm reported that the Maxia Sector was just over an hour out, standard reporting in itself.

She still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about this mission, or at least something odd about the Captain. Again.

When Helm reported they were 15 minutes out, she went to pry the two out of the Ready Room, fully expecting walk in on them engaging in some form of personal fraternizing.

“Last we knew they were still positioned-“ Kercado paused what she was saying as she heard the door hiss open, Granet still focused on the map. There were flags added to the map along with writing instruments in both their hands.

Tora didn’t think they would still be pouring over a map of a sector an hour later. But here they were, it looked like they’d decided to go over the map in extreme detail to see what sections to have updated.

Unbelievable.

“Commander, is there a reason for the interruption?” The captain looked a little perturbed at the interruption but kept her voice level, not angry. Tora gave the ETA update and stepped to the side to let Granet get back to his department to prep for the work they needed to do. She waited a few seconds after the door closed to ensure a bit of privacy before turning to sit in the vacated seat.

“Captain, may I ask as to why it took an hour to go over updates on a star chart with someone who’s job it is to _update star charts_?”

The captain merely looked at her, face as passive and assessing as it was barely 8 hours earlier by the turbolift. Again, she still hadn’t ascertained how loyal Tora would be to the crew, and the crew and the ship were her priority over everything else. Even an individual.

“We pride ourselves on being thorough Commander. Given that the star charts for the Maxia Sector are bordering on obsolete in terms of data, we needed to make sure that this mission would provide as accurate an update as possible. Hundreds of ships will be using the data we update today, thousands of lives depending on them. The paper maps we use are manual backups to what Starfleet keeps on file.” She held the map in question out to Tora to observe. The commander took the paper in hand and observed they had marked out what appeared to be asteroid belts, last known coordinates for various event horizons and other anomalies, even a few unclaimed planetoids.

Tora still felt something was off.

“Captain, you were referring to something, or some _one_ , being positioned somewhere. As your First Officer, my duty is to the ship and to ensure the safety of the Captain and the crew. I can’t help but feel that there is more to this mission that Starfleet advised on public channels. Please. Don’t tell me to drop it, because I can’t. It’s my duty and responsibility to report anything that seems amiss, especially if I feel it could harm either the crew or Starfleet as a whole. What is really going on here?”

“I hear you Commander, I do. But it really is just a standard star chart mission. We’re a Science vessel, specializing in Cartography. Did you forget I suggested map reading? It’s part of the majority of what we do here onboard _Inquisition_. If anything goes wrong while we’re doing this, it’s not just us facing the consequences. We’re a regular bunch of nerds here.”

“Nerds?”

“Yes, we’re a bunch of Nerds and damn proud of it. We need to get back to the Bridge to make sure nothing interrupts our scans. Granet and I were going over the last time the star charts were updated by this ship, an anomaly had interrupted the scans so the rest of the star chart was updated based on extrapolations, not very precise.”

That seemed to appease Tora. They made their way back onto the Bridge.

“Captain on the bridge!” Sakkir chirped as was tradition. Dawson had made his way to the Bridge, he’d heard the same tales of the anomaly and there was no way he’d let anything hurt his ship.

For four hours, it was as dull as Tora’s first day on board, possibly duller. They’d stay in one spot for 10 minutes, then helm would move forward a few kilometers and hold position again for another 10 minutes. Occasionally they’d get a request from Cartography to hold their position an extra 5 minutes, or to go back to the previous point as they hadn’t completed their scans just yet. Even Sakkir gave a small yawn, just slight enough to go unnoticed by the captain but not from his partner next to him in Tactical.

Smith asked if they could possibly put on some music, just for the bridge, given that they weren’t all required for the mission itself. Both helmsmen turned in agreement with the request, also asking for music. That started a debate on what kind of music would they play, given the number of different species and cultures represented by the bridge crew alone there were bound to be disagreements on tastes in music. Tora suggested a round of classical music, but that started off another debate on _whose_ classical music?

“Oh we’d be alright if the wind was in our sails. We’d be alright if the wind was in our sails. We’d be alright if the wind was in our sails. And we’ll on hang on behind…”

Everyone stopped arguing as they turned to listen to the Captain sing. Dawson picked up midway through verse one and opened communications with Engineering. Pretty soon the rest of the bridge who knew the old shanty had joined in, their voices an intertwining harmony. Tora looked around at them in wonder, the song was nothing like she’d heard in the Academy as a young girl.

Apparently the crew had a preset list of shanties, for when the first one had finished they moved onto a second one without wondering which one to sing next. Still continuing on their cartography scans, but this time no one minded the tedious chore set upon them.

They made it through the set once and were beginning at the top of the shanty list again when a proximity alert went off. Everyone immediately silent, they slipped into an air of alert professionalism as if they had been the past few hours. The captain glanced over to Tactical to see if they were being hailed, a negative was the only answer. No one moved for a few moments, waiting to see if what set off the alert was sentient, organic, all the above or none of the above.

Five minutes of nothing new, Kercado motioned for helm to continue on course. Her console beeped, a message waiting for her from Cartography inquiring into why they had not proceeded to the next point for survey. She replied back situation was normal and to carry on Cartography before looking up to check on Tora. Her Commander was also looking at her intently to see how the Captain would react to the alert. Kercado merely shrugged and suggested it was possibly a sublevel eddy that had formed before beginning to sing again.

Such was the rest of their afternoon, no further proximity alerts until just before 1700 hours when another proximity alert went off, this time Tactical received a hail on a universal frequency, albeit an older frequency.

“Audio only Captain.”

“Put them through then please, Commander.” Tora nodded as she opened the line of communications to their side as well, the Captain standing up to greet the unexpected guests.

“Attention hailing vessel. I am Captain Sarah Kercado of the Federation –“

 _“Temelhaeu! Too iurrhi iudaiht klingon stelai ler'khelloann naetrh srefvak!”_ Everyone paused for a moment, confused as to why the Universal Translator wasn’t working. Everyone but Tora and Sakkir to who shared a nervous look. The captain cleared her throat before trying again.

“Apologies, I didn’t quite catch that. My name is-“

 _“YOU. ARE. TOO. CLOSE. TO. BORDER”_ The voice, masculine in nature, spoke with a strong almost familiar accent. The captain motioned for communications to be muted.

“Who knows the language and can someone explain to me why it’s not translating???”

No one said anything for a few seconds before Tora and Sakkir both coughed to get her attention, which she granted in a slow spin to face both of them.

“Sir, it’s Romulan, but I believe the Commander’s accent is too thick for the UT to pick up on.”

“I see, thank you Commander. Do you happen to recognize the voice? And can you try to get them to agree to visuals as well?”

Commander Tora looked a little uncomfortable at the first question but she responded in the negative at recognizing the voice while working to establish the visual communications requested and at the same time scan to determine where the communications were coming from. Sakkir shot her a look which told the captain he didn’t believe her negative response entirely.

“Captain, I’ve sent a message requesting visuals, the other side says they will only comply if you personally ask them.”

“Fine. Open channels. Romulan Commander! This is the Captain, respectfully requesting we continue this conversation with visuals. Please.”

Tora’s console beeped, they would acquiesce to the request. Kercado turned to face the screen.

The screen revealed a Romulan Commander indeed on the other side, but one dressed as if from 200 years ago. And who countenance vaguely resembled the _Inquisition_ ’s very own Commander Tora.

“I AM COMMANDER AROT OF THE ROMULAN EMPIRE. WHAT NAME DO YOU GO BY CAPTAIN?”

The captain signaled for audio to mute as she looked at her now very uncomfortable Commander.

“Commander?”

“He is my great-grandfather, Captain. I think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Temelhaeu! Too iurrhi iudaiht klingon stelai ler'khelloann naetrh srefvak!" = Warning! You're too close to the Neutral Zone!
> 
> And we have a cliffhanger! This scene was part of the initial plot bunny that began long ago. I wanted to get it just right so please be gentle with any constructive criticisms you may have!


	3. Arot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small snippet of the personal log of the /Mortis/ commander and how they ended up where they did

Stardate -108998.825, as translated into the current Terran calendar

 _Onboard the Lanora-class_ RIS Mortis

*Roughly translated from Old Romulan into modern Terran/English*

Personal Log

Today I am the luckiest Romulan alive. The Science Academy has approved my application for a research grant and assigned us our very own expedition to catalog the Space Fauna of the Maxium Sector. To date, Romulus has barely mapped the sector. Thinking of all the animals just waiting to be discovered, the thought makes me giddy with anticipation. Spending months away from my family, so soon after the birth of our first child, will be hard though. Missing so many firsts from our daughter. I pray we will be successful and return on time.

Also. I have additional concerns about our mission. Recent intelligence suggests that the Federation with its Starfleet may be in the area by the time we get there. They claim to be peaceful. They claim to be scientists and researchers. But just last month, one of our mineralogist ships came back badly damaged. A result of a run in with Starfleet. My best friend was with them, she says their ship intentionally ignited an asteroid they were studying. The asteroid is now gone resulting in a slight cascade effect of the gravity pulls of the area.

I’m worried they will cause trouble and become a danger to whatever we will find.

We will be spending time close to Devron, hopefully our theory about the breeding habits of the _gormagander_ will be proven. Or disproven. It matters not, knowledge of any kind is incredibly valuable.

-Personal Log, supplemental

We have arrived at our destination, just outside the established borders of Devron and were immediately treated to a wonderful sight. A Nursery of what appears to be some new form of Space Urchin! Right as a… Brood? Bushel? Gathering? of eggs was beginning to hatch. They’re so small! Maybe 5 meters in diameter, spines already stretching out. So far, our scans show no signs of possible toxins or poisons, perhaps indicative of parental units nearby for safety?

Will provide more after the rest of the eggs have hatched.

-Personal Log Supplemental

It’s been 6 hours, and my worst fears have been realized. Starfleet has arrived, its hull bearing the name… _Inquisition_? They dropped out of warp almost on top of the hatchery, the residual signatures creating a strange anomaly between our two ships. A maelstrom has appeared, gravimetric readings strong enough to pull us in. But the urchins will be left alone with these Humans! I’ve ordered our helm to reverse course, back us away from the edge of the maelstrom and to calculate a safe way around, we must protect the urchins.

My official log will report on the appearance of Starfleet, but for now my own concerns lie with the creatures. We must find a way to communicate with our enemy if we are to protect the fate of the urchins.

Even as I have my crew preparing for what happens next, my thoughts go to my family back home. And whether I will even return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so I did not mean for this much time to pass before the update, but it's Arot's fault. I thought he had one job, he disagreed with me. And then he didn't want to tell me about himself for the LONGEST time! Romulans, amiright?!?!  
> First I thought I needed only one version of events. Then I remembered, it's Star Trek. I can do both if I wanted to. So I am, but the first part was so difficult! Anyways, I'm just relieved he cooperated with me long enough to get this little filler in before we resume our regular programming


	4. Baby Urchins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Captain, Cartography have charted was appears to be a grouping of asteroids that are organic in arrangement. I’ve confirmed there is a herd of urchins in close proximity to this asteroid group. And a small nursery that has begun hatching.”
> 
> the conclusion to the standoff we'd left our characters, a bit more revealed about the crew, and Family. Science Fiction is always better with Family.

Stardate 91001.956

Tora and the Captain kept their gazes on one another, a silent struggle passing between them as the crew waited for orders. The Romulan Commander was staring at the bridge before him trying to figure out what was transpiring and what a Romulan was doing on a Starfleet vessel, on the same crew with a Vulcan no less? If one were to describe how the atmosphere felt later on, any and all present would describe it the same: tense and awkward. The Captain finally broke the silence in a low voice that made even the Cardassian at helm shiver with fear.

“Commander, my ready room.”

Once the door hissed shut, Kercado turned on her feels forcing Tora to stop abruptly. The captain looked to be a mix of a number of conflicting emotions. Tora held her tongue for a moment, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

The captain merely sighed and made her way to her own seat with a slump.

“Tora, what’s going on? You say he’s your great-grandfather. _You think_. How can that be? He looks to be not much older than you, and even I know that Romulans don’t have that much longevity.” Tora shrugged in resignation.

“Captain, my grandmother described her father as… unsettled. That he’d spoken often of his brush with Starfleet, but records from that timeframe both official and unofficial confirm that his disappeared from sensors for a week and then reappeared perfectly intact. And nowhere near where known Starfleet vessels were recorded being at the time. The Science Academy shows they had sent him and his crew on a survey mission to this. Sector. Actually. You don’t think he ended up in his _future_ do you?!?!” She turned a good two shades greener from the realization which was enough to convince Kercado her First Officer didn’t know about much the ship facing off against hers.

“I don’t know what I think right now. Is it possible? Sure, what the hell. Why not? But that just creates more questions. Questions I haven’t the slightest clue how to even start piecing together. Like, how’d they get here? Can we even send them back? Is he completely aligned with the Science Academy or does he have ties to the Military? What does he know about us?” Her questions faded into murmurs as her head fell into her hands, matching Tora’s current posture.

A few quickened heartbeats later both officers managed to compose themselves to at least sit up straighter, the better to form a plan for further communications with the other ship. The captain was first to break the silence that had formed.

“Commander, you mentioned a survey? What kind of survey?”

“Sadly, Grandmother never specified what. She-“

The door opened on Sakkir, a datapad in hand and a furrowed brow on his face. He took precisely one step inside, waiting for the door to close before delivering his news.

“Captain, Cartography have charted was appears to be a grouping of asteroids that are organic in arrangement. I’ve confirmed there is a herd of urchins in close proximity to this asteroid group. And a small nursery that has begun hatching.”

To describe their Human Captain’s eyes as “Saucer-like” at that revelation would have been the most accurate description either Sakkir or Tora could form. However, the closest description for the sound she made could best be described as “wounded Sehlat on helium” such was the volume of her screech.

“BABY. _URCHINS_!? Oh this is even better than I expected! I mean, we knew there was something positioned out here but I had no idea it was an urchin nursery! Oh the little cuties! I wonder how close to Earth’s urchins they look like? How big do they get? Are they-” Her rising excitement began to suffocate both officers now genuinely concerned for her sanity. They both raised an eyebrow at her in matching expressions of disapproval, arched enough to calm her down at realizing her unprofessional response.

“Sorry, sorry. My apologies. Please continue Lieutenant Commander. You always have bad news when delivering good news. What’s the bad news?”

“The anomaly has appeared again, close to the nursey. Preliminary scans suggest that our warp engines may be interacting with the asteroid arrangement and creating a temporal singularity.”

“Of _course_ it’s the warp engines. It’s always the warp engines. Right then, can we back up carefully to avoid harming the urchins? And how close are we and the Romulans to this singularity?” Not waiting for answers to her questions, Kercado stood up, smoothing out her uniform and gesturing to her First and Second Officers to head back to the Bridge. Tora glanced at the datapad on her way back to her station, not picking up much info herself.

Kercado looked over to confirm the Universal Translator would be able to work with the Commander’s accent before motioning to Communications to unmute the screen so she could apologize to him and resume talks. She turned to face the Romulan before her, posture calm.

“Commander, I apologize for the rude departure. I needed to have a conversation with my First Officer, Commander Tora, and didn’t want to end up in a possible shouting match in front of you.”

“Tora?!” his outburst startled the officer who found herself standing up straighter like when she was a young girl and her grandmother made her stand up straight and stop slouching. If the Captain noticed, she said nothing.

“Yes Commander, my First Officer is a Romulan named Tora. She recognized you sir, thinks you might be her great grandfather. If I may ask, why would she think that?” Again she kept her posture calm. She didn’t want to start any fights today if she could help it. Never a good omen for the year if one began a fight before New Year day’s end.

“Strong genes, Captain. Tora is my wife’s name, she’s back home with our newborn daughter. As I said before, you are too close to the border of the nursery. We’ve come here on a cataloging survey and to study the hatching habits of this urchin and you and your ship are going to crush them!” He glanced to the edge of the screen where he knew the pouches were attached to the asteroids, giving his crew a command to back themselves up as a precaution. Kercado followed his example, ordering helm to back them up a few clicks and to swing them around to the Romulan vessel and facing the urchins.

This also allowed her ship more room from the singularity and gave Science more area to scan and get further information on it. They already knew it wasn’t a black hole type singularity, none of them would still be there. But what particular kind of temporal singularity remained to be scanned.

“Commander, my name is Captain Sarah Kercado of the Federation Starship _Inquisition_. My Science Officer has told me two things. One, he did in fact alert me to the presence of the urchins as well. Two, he’s also advised me that our warp engines have interacted with the asteroids to create a temporal singularity, it isn’t often _Inquisition’s_ own warp engines are the source of trouble, normally it’s other ships. Have you encountered such a phenomenon before, Commander… Arot was it?”

“Commandar Arot of the Romulan Science vessel _Mortis_. We were sent by the Science academy to catalog the Maximum Sector Fauna. I expected only to find a pod of gormagander at best. I didn’t expect to find an entire herd of urchins with a nursery. As we began observing them, you and your ship appeared and then a maelstrom formed, pulling us right in. Yet when the storm clears, we find you still here and dangerously close to the creatures! Have you no respect, Captain?!” He also maintained a calm posture mimicking his human counterpart’s posture. Not angry then, more like chastising a naughty child. Only Kercado wasn’t a naughty child and she didn’t appreciate the accusation being made about her. Considering they’d just met…

“Commander, what year is it?” Sure, she sounded like she was copying what _Voyager_ had gone through in the Delta Quadrant, but she suspected something based on the Commander’s version of events. She tapped out a request on her chair to Operations, to use anything Smith and Jenkihk Nez could search and help her figure out her new friends.

“Do you think me a fool, Captain? It’s -109001.994!” Sakkir glanced over to gauge Tora’s reactions at the odd stardate but the only look on her face was resigned acceptance. Arot continued on “Starfleet, all the same! You show up unannounced, destroy everything, then leave without taking any responsibility. Who knows how many animals have been affected by you people!”

“Commander.”

“For all we know these could be the only urchins of their kind out here!”

“Commander.”

“And now you tell me your ship has created a singularity yet again?!”

“Commander, you’re right.” That got him to pause. He’d never heard a Human acknowledge him right before. Then again, he didn’t have much interaction with Humans, this being really his first time.

“I’m sorry?” He couldn’t believe his pointed ears, maybe he heard wrong.

“You’re right. Throughout our history, humans have been quite destructive, I can’t undo what they’ve done, only try to do better moving forward. And it does indeed appear that this ship has crossed paths with yours before, at least once prior. However, you’re wrong about the current year. It isn’t -109001.994. It’s closer to 91001.956, but I think the translator is having trouble translating the date you gave me from whatever calendar you use to the current calendar we use. For you I think it’s 2214 but for us it’s 2414, 200 years after your survey.

I personally want to ensure the urchins’ survival as well and would rather work with you than against you to ensure that, however there is the matter of the temporal singularity making it hard for us to do much to help them until we get that closed. What say you? Will you help me help the urchins?”

Tora had heard only one Human before her apologize for the behavior of their race, when she was a little girl visiting the Earth Embassy in the Romulan capital for a school field trip. She didn’t remember anything about the person in terms of how they looked or dressed. She only remembered how insincere they sounded. Rehearsed almost. Definitely robotic in nature. While her captain’s apology also sounded rehearsed, Tora felt the sincerity behind her desire to be better than before. She felt that with many of the crew.

Sakkir handed the captain a datapad with more information on the singularity. He confirmed it was caused by the _Inquisition_ warp engines, and also the _Mortis’_ , but was tethered by the _Mortis_ , being the one to pass through a similar singularity on their end 200 years in the past. Predictably, the _Mortis_ would need to be sent back through in order for them to close the singularity properly and only then would the _Inquisition_ be able to direct its full attention to protecting the urchins, all of whom had fully hatched and were observing what was going on in their neighborhood.

Kercado silently took the datapad without so much as a glance, requesting a quick break from the _Mortis_ so she could analyze the information and work on a plan on her end. She assured him they would not do anything without conferring with the Romulans first and only after both parties agreed to the plan, a response that pleased Arot who advised he would also work with his crew on a plan and requested they confer with each other in one hour’s time. After checking with Sakkir to confirm the urchins would remain safe during that timeframe both ships cut communications, the captain requesting a department heads’ meeting immediately.

Once everyone was seated, and she got Granet to stop bitching about the cartography mission falling behind, she motioned to Sakkir to bring up the information he’d gathered and begin the briefing.

“Scans confirm that the asteroid formation is a form of amplifier but for what purpose specifically is unknown. The Urchins decided to make it their home due to the formation creating naturally protected pockets large enough for them to lay their pouches. Based on the number of desiccated pouches, the urchins appear to have been coming here for over 250 years with barely an interruption to their mating habits.”

“Until 200 years ago and this afternoon, right Lieutenant Commander?” Kercado piped in.

“Correct Captain. Records confirm that 200 years ago, the then crew of the _Inquisition_ was performing a routine cartography update when they came across the _Mortis_. Based on their logs, it was both the ships’ engines’ wakes crossing each other and against the asteroids that resulted in the temporal singularity forming- No I can’t explain how that works Captain. The formation is ancient in design created by another race possibly millennia ago. By who, when and for what purpose remains to be seen, however I was asked to research the singularity and the Romulan vessel.” She stuck her tongue unprofessionally before standing up to begin the plan forming part of the meeting, muttering under her breath maybe it was magnets.

“The current situation requires the _Mortis_ to return back to its time through the singularity, taking its tether with it to keep the singularity from remaining open. Once they’ve returned, we can set up warning buoys to warn other ships to avoid the area. Yes, Granet, we will include them on the maps, don’t give me that look. Now, to convince the Commander of this plan so he agrees to go through the singularity and we can set up the buoys and we can continue our updates on the sector. Tora, do you feel he’ll believe the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth or do I need to work on additional reasons and embellishments?”

She thought about this. Having never actually met her great grandfather, she really didn’t know that much about the man. But she was quite close to her grandmother and knew the woman to only want the facts of the matter, no fillers of any kind. Perhaps this was a trait she learned from her father, and there was one way to find out.

“Honestly captain, I’m not sure. But grandmother was always about the facts, perhaps Commander Arot is the same?” Kercado nodded in understanding and agreement, looking at the rest of the department heads to see if anyone else had additional ideas to contribute. Other than a report from Engineering that the engines would need yet another once over after they completed the mission due to the temporal waves affecting the systems as well as adding that a burst of tachyon particles to seal the opening would be their best bet to keep that particular singularity from opening again, no one else had anything more to add at this time.

“Alright everyone, back to work!”

Back on the bridge an hour later, Arot and Kercado were finishing up their discussion which did get a little heated when Arot thought he was being asked to abandon his own mission. Kercado had to explain the temporal singularity to him, a feat in itself considering most things temporal were not her strongsuit, but she managed to say it in a way he understood. A few tries later. Tora and Sakkir even jumped in to remind him that he’d told them he’d been surveying urchins in his time when he came through so it wasn’t as if he was completely abandoning them, more like going back to survey the grandparents instead.

The why seemed reasonable enough, the how was becoming more of a challenge. Both crews thought it’d be as simple as steering the _Mortis_ into the singularity, but the calculated trajectory kept going through the closest asteroid, a path Arot was NOT too keen to take. He tried to take the ship in a direct path into the singularity, only to find him and his crew exiting the same way. After narrowly avoiding the _Inquisition_ , he hailed them to try different ideas again. They’d been observing their failed attempts and were already trying to come up with a different tactic.

The captain’s chair began beeping, Engineering pinging her to complain about the engines no doubt. Kercado answered the hail, a little reluctant to add greater engine trouble to the growing list of stressors. Only it wasn’t Dawson, it was Ugela hailing. She’d been observing what was going on outside the ships to see what if anything would be affecting the engines and warp core when she noticed something interesting that the captain should see in Engineering. Kercado signaled for Tora to join her, Sakkir taking the Comm.

When they arrived in Engineering, Ugela’s ears were practically flapping with excitement as she lead them to the console she’d been monitoring the _Mortis’_ progress on.

“Captain, I remember in one of the books I’d picked up to study tracking something about people trapped in alternate dimensions or on planets where they couldn’t escape so easily. Ended up not being wholly relevant but was still very much a profitable read. Various real and fictional examples, like that one about the Jee-Die trapped on the planet ‘Mortis’. Oh! Is that why the Romuland ship is called _Mortis_? Very clever.”

“Ugela, the ship is very Romulan, the planet is very fictional. And unfortunately I’m not making the connection on that one since wasn’t it the Son that kept tricking the Jedi? Or am I in need of a rewatch? Sorry. Back to you, Ugela. Let’s try to stick to reality for a bit, we can nerd and geek out afterwards.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry captain. Anyways, I noticed that if they went straight in, they came straight out. The computer was consistent in its results. If a curved trajectory was trying to be calculated, the exact opposite was being plotted, no matter how many times you feed it the parameters. Almost like a mirror, Captain. So I started to wonder, what if that’s what was happening? What if the singularity was creating a mirror affect?”

“…Go on.”

“What if. We manually calculate the trajectory instead of using the computer, and have their helm fly by sight into the singularity? Don’t use the computers for anything but ship’s control?”

“Old school. This could work. Ugela, you’re needed on the bridge. Coordinate the calculations with Helm, confirm with Science if needed. Let’s go.”

Back on the bridge all three arrived to find that _Mortis_ had tried another 5 attempts to re-enter only to emerge on the wrong side of time. Sakkir stood as the captain entered the bridge, advising his own mirror theory to which the captain advised Ugela had come to the same conclusion as well and that they all needed to work this one out old school. The Ferengi joined her Bajoran and Cardassian cohorts at the helm, already frantically calculating the trajectory. Tora finally knew what her captain had meant when they spoke not even 24 hours earlier about Jacks, skills and relying on computers too much. They were literally plotting the course on a blank pad of paper and their own minds. Once they had figured out a different path from the ones they’d tried before, they handed their results to Sakkir who entered them into the ship’s computer to see if it’d mirror the results. Sure enough, the path went right through the asteroids, an even bigger asteroid cluster this time. It was insane, it was steep.

It was damn near as perfect as it was going to get.

Kercado motioned to hail Commander Arot to relay the news and the update. His visage looked even greener than normal by Romulan standards, the safety of his crew overtaking any concerns he’d had with the urchins. Kercado explained her engineer’s theory to him, tying it back to the temporal mechanics from before, and the mirror theory her people had been working with. He took it all in as best he could before requesting the course coordinates, a request happily complied with by Lieutenant Etho. Once received, his helm officer began bringing up the course onto their screen.

Kercado spoke up as it was loading, “Commander, the ship will project the mirror of the course. It’ll show you going through the asteroids, remember this will not be true! Please, I know you’ve only known us for a few hours. But I ask you to trust us, just once. You need to guide the ship in manually, follow your own eyes and not the computer. If our ancestors could sail the stars by sight, you can sail it now.”

Sure enough, the ship showed him and his crew going through the asteroid. Nearly every Romulan began to panic. Lonclub, his Second, tried to convince him they couldn’t trust the Humans. Remember what they did to the mineralogists?

Arot reminded him that just like Romulans weren’t all the same, neither were Humans. He would trust these humans, he didn’t see much other choice, and it’s not like he would immediately rush to invite the next Human he saw to dinner. Lonclub quietly cursed him, but trusted his friend enough that he’d follow Arot’s lead. A lead that the helmsmen were already set up to follow on Arot’s orders to both men’s surprise. Arot requested one final communication with the _Inquisistion_. Kercado’s face sharpened into view.

“Captain, today has been quite interesting. Loathe I am to admit it, you and your crew are quite different from what our friends described of your crew when they ran into you. If this works, I don’t expect we’ll meet again. One science vessel to another, I ask that you keep those urchins safe will you?” He granted her a small grin but a more serious salute. She returned his salute and wished him and his crew good luck and had her ship back up to clear the area they’d need to make their approach.

 _Inquisition_ moved into a more protective stance to keep the _Mortis_ safe as it made its way into position. The Romulan helmsmen alerted their captain when they were in position, ready on his command. Arto took one last look at the urchins, who by this point had grown tired of the two ships and were minding their own business, similar to the _tahkil_ back home. Shifting his gaze to the _Inquisition_ , his mind briefly shifted to his possible new friends, and his great granddaughter, thoughts drifting to the daughter he left at home.

His desire to return home nearly overpowered him, but he smoothed his face and gave the order to proceed, carefully since they were going in by sight.

Everyone from both ships either held their breath, crossed their fingers, or gave a silent prayer to their Deity until the ship entered the singularity. Nobody relaxed until they were certain the Romulans were not going to be exiting. True to her word, Kercado set up warning bouys around the Hatchery and even had a few inserted into the asteroids for good measure.

On the other side of the singularity emerged the _Mortis_ , intact with all crew complement accounted for. Arot glanced through the viewscreen, relieved when he saw the urchins had completed hatching without trouble. Making a quick decision based on their very long day, he had their ship turn around to head back to Romulus. He’d seen enough in the sector to last for some times, now he wished for nothing more than to return home to his family. Giving the Comm to Lonclub, he headed to his quarters to begin creating his log entries.

Personal Log, Commander Arot

Stardate -108992.355

I have been granted a rare gift, a chance to see my great granddaughter. She is second in command of a Federation Starfleet vessel, a fine vessel to be on. She carries herself with pride, and I see the others respect her. I hope that with my own daughter I can raise her to be a Romulan worthy of true honor, not like our Senate.

I have seen how Humans are capable of, I’m glad my first meeting was better than my friends. May the crew of the _Inquisition_ in our time be somewhat similar to their descendants. And may I not have made a huge mistake in trusting them.

Secure Log, Captain Kercado

Stardate 91007.64

We were right about something being in the area. But an asteroid formation that can create temporal singularities is even better than I initially anticipated. There isn’t a military installation out here, that much we confirmed thanks to Sakkir and his ability to do multiple scans at various levels of covertness. Cartography has encrypted the information on our paper maps. Copy for Command, copy for us.

I’ve also come to a decision regarding our newest Commander. I might just be able to trust Commander Tora. She proved herself over the past couple of days, showing immense levels of discretion. I’ll make contact with the Admiral in a few days’ time, once Engineering stops hounding me about the engines, to make the proposal and see where that takes us.

Must also add the research taken by Tut to the report about the formation. We need to be able to control when the singularities form, which means our reliance on dilithium based engines has become a liability. Still no luck with the mycelium spore drive, the full data has been removed from archives and I’m running out of places to find the research. Damn whoever removed all but a glancing sentence in long winded reported from the days of Kirk.

This year is turning out to be quite the interesting year indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard one to get off the ground, ended up really discouraged for the better part of a month. But I did it, I'm quite proud of this one now.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to: HylianEngineer and my cousin Sassy_Lil_Scorpio

**Author's Note:**

> the stardates are actual stardates, I'm not just pulling numbers out of a hat!
> 
> I've also given names to at least 50 members of the crew and designed away teams for various types of missions, hopefull the chance to use them all will happen *fingers crossed*


End file.
